Holy Spirit Cupcakes for Pentecost

Decorate cupcakes with red sprinkles and white chocolate doves for a simple and symbolic Pentecost dessert! I packed along these cupcakes to share at our Homeschool Family Camp last year.

Candy molds are easy to use and can be purchased inexpensively online. Other options include these Pentecost Cupcakes made with dove cupcake picks from the wedding section of the craft store and these beautiful Flaming Cupcakes for Pentecost! 

You can find additional recipes for Pentecost in the archives. Our family favorite has always been a Symbolic Birthday Cake for our beloved Church. I hope you all have a blessed Pentecost Sunday!

One loving spirit sets another on fire. 

~ St. Augustine

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Celebrating Pentecost {and 2013 Link-Up!}

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday! Since Pentecost if the Birthday of the Church, our family always celebrates with a birthday cake! Our cake is a usually a white cake with white frosting since Pentecost is also known as Whitsunday. The large candle in center represents Christ our Light, who promised to send the Holy Ghost, and the 12 smaller white candles represent the 12 Apostle and the tongues of fire. The 7 red hearts (strawberry slices on this cake) represent the 7 gifts of the Holy Ghost, and the 12 strawberries, placed around the cake, represent the 12 fruits of the Holy Ghost.

After singing Happy Birthday to the Church, our kids blow out the candles with a "mighty wind."

Pentecost Sunday 2012 (full post at Shower of Roses)

You can find lots of other ideas for celebrating Pentecost in the archives and in last year's link-up. 

Be sure to take pictures tomorrow to share in the link-up below.
To Participate:

1. Create a post about your Pentecost Sunday celebration.
2. Using the linky below, enter the exact link to your post.
3. Add a link your post, referring back to this post so that others can find the link-up as well!
4. Be sure to visit the links and see how everyone else has been celebrating!

O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.

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Happy Pentecost!

Sharing a fun Holy Spirit fruit platter to make for Pentecost or even a Confirmation celebration.  It's super easy and healthy too:)

Ingredients...Sliced strawberries (bananas used for eyes and wing tail).

+Come Holy Spirit+

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Pentecost Brunch

The following Pentecost Brunch menu and recipes were submitted by Kathryn Zamudio, and the photos were taken by her husband Miguel.

Pentecost is the end of the Easter season. It is also the birthday of the church. This is a good opportunity to share the Easter season with our friends who could not make it to Easter due to family obligations.

This time of the year, wild fires in New Mexico bring heat and wind, reminding us of the symbols of Pentecost. This brunch menu is hot, fiery and windswept, just like Pentecost and New Mexico.

Gazpacho

Pentecost Pork Stew

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Stuffed Sweet Peppers

Cream Cheese & Radish Sandwiches

Smoked Tongue Sandwiches

Coleslaw

Red Chili Tamales

Verde Tamales

Chili Colorado

Tomato & Watercress Salad

Cactus, Zucchini and Red Pepper Salad

Virgin Mary Cocktails

Coffee

Gazpacho

• 1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
• 2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!

After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

Pentecost Pork Stew

• 1 small red bell pepper
• 1 small yellow bell pepper
• 1 lb pork loin, fat removed, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2lb bulk chorizo sausage
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 tbsp dried basil leaves
• 1 tbsp dried cilantro leaves
• 2 tsp ground red chiles
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1 small butterntu squash, pared and cut into ½ inch cubes
• 1 can (2 ¼ oz) sliced ripe olives, drained
• Corn Bread Topping
• 1½ cups yellow cornmeal
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup dairy sour cream
• 2/3 cup milk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg

Cut 6 thin slices from each bell pepper; reserve slices. Chop remaining bell peppers. Cook pork, sausage, onion and garlic in 4 quart Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until pork is no longer pink. Stir in chopped bell peppers broth, basil, cilantro and ground red chiles. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir tomato, squash and olives into meat mixture; cook 15 minutes longer.

Heat oven to 425º. Prepare Corn Bread Topping by mixing all ingredients; beat vigorously. Pour meat mixture into ungreased rectangular baking dish, 13 x 9 x 2 inches. Pour Corn Bread topping over meat mixture; carefully spread to cover, sealing to edge of dish. Arrange reserved bell pepper slices on top to resemble tongues of fire. Bake until topping is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Chorizo Sausage

If you cannot find bulk chorizo sausage in your local grocery store, you can make your own. Substituting ground turkey will give you a chorizo with less saturated fat.

• 2 lbs. ground pork or turkey
• 3 tbsp Kosher salt
• 2 tbsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp chipotle powder
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients except vinegar in a large bowl and chill for about 1 hour.

Add vinegar to the meat and mix thoroughtly until it has a uniform appearance and stickiness.

Test for seasoning by sautéing a small sausage patty until cooked through. Taste and adjust flavorings as necessary.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

• 3 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 2 to 3 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp snipped fresh cilantro
• 1 tbsp finely chopped jalapeno chile
• 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 1/4 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients.

Stuffed Sweet Peppers

• 8 Small sweet peppers, yellow, orange and red
• 4 strips turkey bacon
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 12 tsp cumin
• 8 oz Cotija cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Put chiles directly on stove burner and cook until charred, turning as necessary. Let cool, then slit open.

Microwave bacon until crispy. Chop bacon and set aside.

Add olive oil to pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic, cook 1 minute. Add onion and cook until sot ( about 5 minutes). Add oregano and cumin and cook 1 minute more. Let cool. Add cheese, pecans and chopped bacon to mixture and mix well. Fill prepared chiles.

Place stuffed chiles on oven proof dish and bake for 10 minutes.

Cream Cheese & Radish Sandwiches

• 6 slices white bread
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 12 radishes
• Parsley sprigs for garnish
• Salt

Chop half the radishes finely. Mix with cream cheese and salt. Spread on 6 slices of bread. Cut remaining radishes in half and put half a radish on each sandwich with the red skin on top. Garnish with a twig of parsley.

Yield: Makes 6 sandwiches

Smoked Tongue Sandwiches

• 6 slices bread
• butter
• 1/2 lb smoked tongue, boiled
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp. horseradish
• 1 tsp. sugar
• salt

Butter slices of bread, garnish with thin slices of smoked tongue. Mix mayonnaise, horseradish, sugar and salt. Spread on slices of tongue.

Yield: Serves 6

Czech Coleslaw

• 1 med. head cabbage, cored and sliced into thin strips approx. 1-2" long
• 2-4 cups very hot water
• Dressing:
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• pepper, freshly ground
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 can (8 oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained

Core and roughly slice cabbage into thin strips an inch or two long. Place strips in colander nested in larger bowl and pour enough very hot water over to cover. Soak 7 minutes.

Using more vinegar than water, mix the two to taste creating a total of 1 cup liquid. Dissolve in sugar and salt (again, to taste whether you like it sweeter or more sour) Add a grinding of pepper, then whisk in the oil.

Remove colander from bowl; allow cabbage to drain well and cool.

While cooling, dice onion, green and yellow peppers. Toss together peppers, cabbage, and drained mushrooms in a nonmetallic salad bowl.

Pour salad dressing over slaw and marinate in fridge, covered, overnight or for at least four hours.

Yield: Serves 6

Red-Chile Tamales


Since we live in the Southwest, we just buy our tamales. Making them is too much effort, and we can get many different varieties. If you live in a tamale deprived part of the country, here are the recipes.

Masa


• 2 cups masa harina

• 1½ cups chicken stock, hot

• 1½ teaspoons salt

• 1 cup lard or vegetable shortening

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Place masa harina in a large bowl. Pour in hot chicken stock and combine well with a rubber spatula. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, mix until thoroughly combined and adjust consistency with warm water.

Filling
1/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil
2½ pounds pork roast, cut in ¾ inch cubes
1 large onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 cups chicken broth or water
2 teaspoons ground coriander seed
2 teaspoons ground cumin seed
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
1 cup red-chile powder
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoon sherry vinegar 
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F..

Heat the oil in a large skillet and brown pork in batches. Set the pork aside. Add the onion to the skillet and sauté until golden. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Deglaze the skillet with one cup of the chicken broth, loosening the browned bits with a spoon.
 Add the coriander, cumin, oregano, red-chile powder, honey, vinegar, and salt to the pan. Add the cooked onions, garlic, and broth.
 Place the browned pork, chile marinade in an ovenproof pot or dish, stir to combine and bake for 1 hour or until pork is tender.
 Shred pork with two forks until desired consistency is achieved.

Pre-soak your corn husks in water until pliable. Layer a tablespoon of masa and filling inside. Fold each side of the husk over the filling so the filling is covered. Fold bottom ends of the husk over

Tamales Verdes


• Masa
 - 2½ cups high-quality masa harina 

• 1½ to 2 cups water, then additional as needed

• 1 cup fresh spinach

• 1 bunch green onions, green part only, chopped

• 1 teaspoon epazote (a Mexican spice)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 8 ounces lard, vegetable shortening, or butter
 (all at room temperature)



Place masa harina in a large bowl. Combine water, spinach, onions, and espazote in a blender; purée for 1 minute. Add this blend, baking powder, and salt to masa harina. Combine well. Add fat and combine well. Add warm water until light, sticky dough is achieved. Cover and reserve.
Spinach and Goat-Cheese Filling
1 pound chèvre cheese 
(such as South Mountain brand)
1 cup spinach, chopped
½ teaspoon salt

Place ingredients in a large bowl and mix until combined. Place mixture in a pastry bag with a large, round tip. Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Pipe cheese mixture onto the lined baking sheet and freeze mixture for 1 to 2 hours. Remove cheese from freezer and cut into 1½-inch pieces. Place pieces in a plastic bag and store in freezer until needed.

Pre-soak your corn husks in water until pliable. Layer a tablespoon of masa and filling inside. Fold each side of the hust over the filling so the filling is covered. Fold both ends of the husk over. Fold them in the same direction so all the flaps face down.

Using narrow strings pulled form a husk, tie a bow around the package to keep it closed.

Chili Colorado

Again, we can buy this premade in any of our local Latin stores.

• 2 ounces whole dried New Mexico chiles (6)
• 1 ounce whole dried guajillo chiles (6)
• 4 cups boiling-hot water
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons Sherry vinegar, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste

Rinse chiles and split open, discarding stems, seeds, and ribs.

Heat a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over moderate heat, then toast chiles, skin sides up, in batches, about 30 seconds (be careful not to burn them, or sauce will be bitter). Transfer chiles as toasted to a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over them. Cover bowl and soak chiles, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 15 minutes.

Purée chiles with three fourths of soaking liquid, reserving remainder, in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Pour purée through a coarse sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids, and discard solids. Whisk reserved soaking liquid into chile mixture.

Cook onion, garlic, cumin, and oregano in oil in a large heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, 2 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Whisk in chile mixture and simmer, partially covered, whisking occasionally, until reduced to about 2 1/2 cups, about 30 minutes. Season with salt, vinegar, and sugar.

Cactus, Zucchini and Red Pepper Salad

• 1 jar nopalitas (prickly pear cactus pads)
• 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into ¼ inch strips
• Cilantro vinaigrette
• 1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp snipped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• generous dash of freshly groud pepper

Mix nopalitos, zucchini and bell pepper. Set aside.

Mix ingredients for cilantro vinaigrette. shake all ingredients in tightly covered container. Pour vinegarette over salad and serve.

Tomato and Watercress Salad

• 1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
• 1 pint yellow teardrop tomatoes, washed and halved
• 4 small bunches fresh watercress, cleaned
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, combine the red and yellow tomatoes, watercress, and 3 tablespoons of the chives. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil over the salad and toss to coat well.

Virgin Mary Cocktail

• 3 oz tomato juice
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
• celery salt
• ground pepper
• hot pepper or Tabasco sauce

Build the liquid ingredients into a highball glass. Mix well. Add the seasonings to taste.

Additional recipes for Pentecost can be found in the archives.

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A Paleo Strawberry Coconut Trifle

This post was written by past Catholic Cuisine contributor Amy.

It is a little late for this Easter, but I wanted to share this with you anyway.  It would be a great dessert for many feast days, including Valentine's Day or Pentecost.  Add some blueberries and it would be a fun dessert for Divine Mercy Sunday as well!

In our family we have people with gluten intolerance and one poor little muffin who is lactose intolerant.  So I generally have to get a bit creative with our holiday treats. 

All I could think about was the fact that I wanted to have that wonderful trifle here at Catholic Cuisine we have every year on Easter.  So I searched the net, but nothing looked very good (well to me, that is, I was being picky).  Then I found, on Pinterest, a link on how to make whip cream from canned coconut milk.  With that and a gluten free cake mix from Pamela's I knew I had it!

A Paleo Strawberry Coconut Trifle

• 1 package Pamela's Vanilla Cake Mix
• 3-4 pounds strawberries (you can do less, but we went for it)
• 1/2 to 1 cup almond or coconut milk
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice  (you could use agave or another sweetener I am sure to your taste)
• 2 cans Native Forest unsweetened FULL FAT coconut milk

Bake the cake according to directions.  Do this the night before and let it cool completely.  I had to hide mine on top of the fridge.  In the morning cut up into 1 inch cubes.  Poor the almond or coconut milk over the cubed cake till it is moist but not soaked.  Cut the strawberries and sprinkle with coconut and sweetener, mix.  Make the coconut whipped cream.  Follow these directions.  They work and it is AMAZING.  I didn't have enough whipped cream for the top because one of my cans got shook up, which was a huge disappointment.  So we only had one layer of the coconut whipped cream instead of two.  I ended up drizzling the other can a little over everyone's servings instead.

On the bottom of your trifle or glass bowl, put half the cake.  Put half the strawberry mixture on top of that, then half of the 2 cans worth of whipped coconut cream.  Repeat.  On top place a decorative strawberry and some toasted coconut.



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Celebrating Pentecost {and Link-Up!}

Come Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Tomorrow we celebrate Pentecost Sunday! Since Pentecost if the Birthday of the Church, our family always celebrates with a birthday cake! Our cake is a usually a white cake with white frosting since Pentecost is also known as Whitsunday. The large candle in center represents Christ our Light, who promised to send the Holy Ghost, and the 12 smaller white candles represent the 12 Apostle and the tongues of fire. The 7 red hearts represent the 7 gifts of the Holy Ghost, and the 12 strawberries, placed around the cake, represent the 12 fruits of the Holy Ghost.

Pentecost Sunday 2011

After singing Happy Birthday to the Church, our kids blow out the candles with a "mighty wind."

One year, when I was short on time, I just picked up a white Cheesecake from Costco, along with some Strawberries, which was quick and easy! Red Velvet would also work nicely, as Robina has previously suggested.  Additional dessert ideas for Pentecost include Flames of Pentecost Cupcakes, Flaming Cupcakes for Pentecost, Pentecost Cupcakes, Pentecost Pie, and Holy Spirit Cheesecake.

Catholic Icing shares a great idea for Pentecost Sundaes, and don't miss these Pentecost Parfaits at Catholic Mom! 

In addition to dessert there are all sorts of other recipes that you could make for Pentecost in the archives.   Some of our favorites are a Twelve Fruit Salad and Seven Layer Bean Dip:

Twelve Fruit Salad 
in honor of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit

Last year our salad included: Kiwi, Red Raspberries, Black Raspberries, Strawberries, Watermelon, Red Grapes, Green Grapes, Cantaloupe, Pineapple, Peaches, Nectarines, and Apricots.

7 Layer Dip in honor of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

Beans, Salsa, Sour Cream, Guacamole, Cheese, Green Onions & Olives

Since Pentecost is also known as "Whitsunday," one tradition is to serve white foods. Since Pentecost is also known as "Whitsunday," and one tradition is to serve white foods. Some ideas include powdered sugar doughnuts with white hot chocolate in the morning, and an afternoon snack of milk and Macaroons, and Cornish Game Hens (representing the Dove), Pasta Alfredo (white), and Cauliflower (white) for dinnertime.

You could also go with a "Red-Hot Theme" for dinner this year. Examples would include: fiery hot food, food cooked over flames, and any other food that is red. Perhaps even the Phoenix-Tailed Shrimp which happens to be one of the suggestions for the final Good Shepherd's Garden Party!

Holy Spirit Crackers for Pentecost Sunday are yet another fun treat for Pentecost! 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~

Now it's your turn!  Be sure to take pictures tomorrow to share in the link-up below.  And for all of those that have been joining us and celebrating the Easter Season with The Garden of the Good Shepherd, we'd love to see pictures and hear about how you modified our Good Shepherd's Garden Party for your family, or incorporated any of our other ideas into your celebration.   

To Participate:

1. Create a post about your Pentecost Sunday and/or Good Shepherd's Garden Party for the seventh week of Easter. 

2. Using the linky below, enter the exact link to your post.

3. Add a link your post, referring back to this post so that others can find the party as well!  

4. Be sure to visit the links and see how everyone else has been celebrating!

I hope you have a blessed Pentecost Sunday!

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Flaming Cupcakes for Pentecost!

For our celebration of Pentecost today I made Tongues of Fire Cupcakes. I came up with the idea when I made these flower cupcakes for Mother's Day a few months back. I thought the "petals" could look like flames of fire if you arranged them a little differently on the cupcake. 

For this all you'll need is frosted cupcakes, mini marshmallows cut in half diagonally and red and/or orange colored sugar. Arrange the marshmallows dipped in colored sugar around the cupcake so they point upward. Go around the cupcake twice. Then for the middle put another dollop of frosting and three more halved marshmallows dipped in colored sugar. My kids thought these were very cool.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Happy Birthday, Mother Church!

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Holy Spirit Cheesecake

Holy Spirit Cheesecake

This is a very easy cheese cake to make for Pentecost, Confirmation, or any celebration of the Holy Spirit.

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1/3 Cup sugar

1 Cup sour cream

2 tsp. vanilla

8 oz whipped topping

10" graham cracker pie crust

(Handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips for topping)

Instructions:

Cream softened cream cheese and slowly add sugar.  Mix in sour cream and vanilla.  Fold in whipped topping.  Pour into graham cracker crust.  Use chocolate chips to design the dove topping!

The Spirit of the Lord fills the whole world.  It hold all things together and knows every word spoken by man, Alleluia.~Wisdom 1:7~

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Pentecost Pie

When thinking about what to make to celebrate our Church's birthday this Sunday, I didn't think long before I thought of this yummy, fresh strawberry pie. As we are (most of us) pie people in my house, I thought "pie" because my children usually request pie for their birthday dessert. And I thought "strawberry" because when sliced, strawberries look just like red flames, representing the tongues of fire that came down upon Our Lord's friends and the Blessed Mother. Layered over a bed of white chocolate whipped cream, this berry pie is so delicious and refreshing. It's not too filling, and even though it's perfect for Pentecost with sliced strawberries, I have a feeling it would be wonderful with any fresh berry on top.

RESTOUT, Jean II
Pentecost
1732


I use a pre-made graham cracker crust for this recipe because the darling of the pie is most definitely the filling and the berries. You could certainly use a homemade graham cracker or even a regular baked and cooled pie crust instead.

White Chocolate Berry Pie

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5 oz. white chocolate
2 T. milk
1 cup whipping cream
3 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1 t. grated orange peel
1 graham cracker crust - 9 inch
2 cups fresh sliced strawberries


In a microwave or over double boiler, melt white chocolate with milk. Cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, beat whipping cream until stiff and fluffy. Remove from mixer bowl to another bowl. Then, beat cream cheese and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth. Beat in orange peel and melted chocolate. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into crust; smooth. Arrange strawberries on top. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Store in refrigerator.

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Pentecost Cupcakes

This recipe was submitted by Veronica Gantley, from My Catholic Kitchen.  Thank you Veronica!

I bought these dove cupcake picks from a cake store a while back, thinking that they would be fitting for Pentecost Sunday, since the doves represent the Holy Ghost.

Chocolate Cupcakes with White Icing

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips (1/2 cup or 1 cup is fine as well)

Directions:

Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; set aside
Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla
Add cocoa mixture to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with cocoa mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips.
Put 12 paper baking cups in a muffin pan. Spoon batter evenly into cups, filling all the way to the top.
Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack, and cool 30 minutes or until completely cool. Spread cupcakes evenly with White Frosting.

White Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 to 3 Tbsp. milk

Preparation:

Beat butter with an electric mixer with a paddle attachment at medium-high speed until creamy. Gradually beat in sugar until smooth. Beat in vanilla and 2 Tbsp. milk, adding additional milk, if necessary, for desired consistency.

Note:  You can often find dove picks and decorations in the wedding section of the craft store.  Additional recipes for Pentecost Sunday can be found in the archives!  

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Holy Spirit Crackers for Pentecost Sunday

Here is a fun and easy snack, which we made for our Joyous Easter Tea inspired by Alice Gunther, which would be perfect for the upcoming feast of Pentecost! 

Holy Spirit Crackers

Ingredients:

Plain round or rectangular crackers
White cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced
Yellow cheddar or American cheese, thinly sliced
Slivered grape tomatoes or Sweet Red Pepper (optional)

Directions:
Cut a large flame out of the white cheese and a smaller flame out of the cheddar cheese.  Once they are layered on top of the cracker they will look like tongues of fire.  Add a sliver of grape tomato or red pepper, if desired. 

You can find more ideas for celebrating Pentecost in the archives! 

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Confirmation Party Foods

People often wonder what to serve at celebrations following the reception of sacraments. "Are there foods that are traditional for the various sacraments?" and "What kinds of foods might be symbolic for the sacrament?" are questions I have heard. Last spring we highlighted First Communion Celebrations in Catholic Cuisine's first From Thy Bounty Fair, but there have been only a few post related to foods which would be fitting for a Confirmation celebration.

Our family recently celebrated a confirmation and I wanted to share some of the ideas we had for the party that followed. Since we are still in the Confirmation season, hopefully some of these ideas will be helpful to you or spark other ideas. And of course any ideas that would work well for a Confirmation party could also be incorporated into a Pentecost celebration as well.

Our party included some typical buffet-fare (deli sandwiches, potato salad, and chips) which we accented with several special Confirmation themed foods we though would be symbolic of the day. Our buffet included:

• "Fruits of the Spirit" Salad (Though we used only 7 fruits - more like the gifts - rather than the 12 fruits. And no dressing was used, just the fruits.)


• Seven-layer bean dip (7 again to represent the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit)


• "Tongues of Fire" Salad (A green tossed salad with strips of red, yellow and orange bell pepper on top)

A fun and sweet treat for after the meal was Dove chocolate - calling to mind the dove imagery of the Holy Spirit.

And the main centerpiece of the celebration was the cake which we decorated with the dove and tongues of fire representing the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We first traced and cut out a paper dove the size and shape we wanted for the cake top. We placed that on the frosted cake (chocolate was used so that the white dove would stand out) and traced around the outline with a toothpick.

When the pattern was lifted we had an outline of a dove to fill in with the white frosting. We used a star tip to fill in the body and one of the tips with the elongated hole (either the leaf or rose tip) to form the feathers. We pulled a toothpick through the frosting to give the feathers a more "feathery" appearance. The tongues of fire, the beak and the rays from the doves head were piped on with yellow-orange tinted frosting.

If you have ideas for foods to celebrate a Confirmation, please share then with us. If you have a link to a blog post that would be great. Either leave your link or idea in the comments section or send it to me at mary.cathcuisine at gmail dot com. I'd love to do a follow-up post, a mini From Thy Bounty Fair, if there is enough response.

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Flames of Pentecost Cupcakes

With Pentecost coming quickly upon us, it's a good time to revisit some past posts with ideas for bringing the spirit of Pentecost alive in our meal and dessert preparations. In addition to the awesome birthday cake idea (Happy Birthday Church!) just shared by Robina there is A Cake for Pentecost from last year as well. Don't forget the Portuguese Holy Ghost Sopas shared by Amy or Evelyn Birge Vitz 's Twelve Fruit Salad from A Continual Feast. More ideas can be found in Jessica's Menu ideas for Pentecost Sunday and Pentecost suggestions are also mentioned in Jenn's two part series "Staples of Our Feastday Celebrations" - Wine and Bread.

I always like to have a simple option on hand if time is tight on feast days. For us cupcakes are an easy dessert to pull together. Here is a simple Pentecost cupcake decorating idea with two variations for "flames."

Using white frosted cupcakes add thin sliced strawberry "flames" to represent the tongues of fire.

Or add some red and yellow food coloring to small amounts of extra frosting and dab on swirl frosting "flames."

And check out Meredith's Sweetness and Light blog for her lovely strawberry topped cupcake variation from a few years ago.

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Happy Birthday Church!

Pentecost celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit onto the twelve apostles. Pentecost is celebrated seven weeks after Easter, this year on May 31st. This event marks the BIRTHday of the Church as with this power of the Holy Spirit the apostles went out to be Jesus' witnesses to the world, able to speak all language and perform great acts.

"But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Acts 1:8

What better way to celebrate a birthday than to have a birthday cake. Since red is the liturgical color for Pentecost, I think a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing sounds perfect. Place twelve candles on the cake representing the twelve apostles, and the lighting of the candles represents the flame of the Holy Spirit descending upon them.

"Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,

which parted and came to rest on each one of them.

And they were all filled with the holy Spirit"

Acts 2:3-4

There are so many variations of red and white cake and decorations possible, so make whatever cake combination you fancy. I am doing this for the first time this year so I don't have a picture of a red velvet cake with twelve candles on it yet. This picture is meant to sweeten your appetite to want to make this scrumptious treat to celebrate the Holy Spirit and the beginning of our Holy Mother Church.

This post was written by Robina, at Motherly Loving, and submitted for publication here at Catholic Cuisine. Thank you Robina!

For more ideas for celebrating Pentecost, be sure to check the archives! 

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Staples of Our Feastday Celebrations Part Two: Wine

Otherwise entitled "Feasting for Adults through the Liturgical Year, Part Two." Continued from Part One: Bread. I just loved Mary Ellen's Feeling Wine-y. She echoed so many of my feelings about wine and alcoholic beverages in general. It so wonderful that as a Catholic we don't have to be ashamed to enjoy alcohol. Along with bread, wine is the other component of the Eucharist. All over the world grapes are grown, wine is made and shared. For many years people drank wine (or other alcoholic beverages) instead of water because of poor sanitation. Our courtship and marriage has been highlighted by the enjoying of various wines, for extra-special occasions and evening hours after the children are in bed. And for family get-togethers the two questions are always raised, "Who is bringing the wine?" and "What kind?" Generally my extended family enjoys reds, usually Cabernets. Dh and I do try different varietals and various countries of origin. A few years ago we were enjoying all wines Spanish, especially the Rioja. We love trying rich Zinfandels (the red kind). I enjoy finding some French wine that isn't overpriced. Now that it is warmer we like the drier white wines which are more refreshing sipping wines. We got over our intimidation with wine after reading the "Tastings" Column in The Wall Street Journal by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher. We've also read their books, such as:

•  The Wall Street Journal Guide to Wine: New and Improved: How to Buy, Drink, and Enjoy Wine
• Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion: Red, White, and Bubbly to Celebrate the Joy of Living
• Love by the Glass

All their books are quite practical and easy reading, helping the ordinary man enjoy wine. There is no snobbery involved, but just help in understanding a bit more about wine, and making memories. I never had the opportunity like Mary Ellen, so I'm no expert, but we do enjoy the adventure. Wine was used for the institution of the Eucharist, at the Last Supper. Now it is daily used at Mass all over the world, before it is transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. I also love to think about Our Lord's first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana. Jesus and his mother were probably at a celebrating with family or close friends, and wine was a necessity, not a luxury! It was part of the social feasting aspect. What more blessing can we have for enjoying wine in social gatherings?

I have a few unorthodox suggestions for expanding and trying different wines, and incorporating them into family and feast day celebrations at home. Of course wine connoisseurs may not agree with some of my suggestions, but truly, we've found some very fine wines this way. It's fun to experiment and wander away from the usual standards. First start reading about different types of wines, the varieties from various regions in different countries. What piques your interest? Sweet wines? Bold reds? Dry white wines? Traditional varieties, or the new grapes? What countries do you want to "visit"? After all, wine doesn't only come from France and California. Then have fun trying out different wines. In my local area Trader Joes, Costco, Total Wine, and even Wal-Mart have many wines priced very reasonably, so one can experiment without breaking the bank. Read labels and descriptions and pick something that appeals to you. I'm in no way advocating buying "Blue Nun" for a blue bottle for a Marian feast or a sister's habit for a nun's feast day, but if some of the choices do come down to a choice of a label, go with what appeals to you! There are hits and misses, but the madness of this method is for a twofold purpose: enjoy the wine, and get to know a saint more deeply.

1. Follow the feasts in the Church that incorporate wine and blessings. The older form of Roman Ritual contains several blessings for wine or the New Roman Ritual. There are specific feast days officially connected to the blessing of wine, such as the feast of St. John the Evangelist on December 27 and St. Blaise, February 3. There are also local church traditions connected with wine, such as the upcoming feast of the Transfiguration in Rome. In France on St. Martin of Tours, November 11, Beaujolais Nouveau is drunk. Both celebrate the new wine in various stages. There are also annual blessings of grapevines in spring and of the harvest of grapes in the fall.
2. Find a winery or type of grapes grown near where the saint was born or lived, or even where his remains are held. It's fun to pinpoint the region of origin or mission territories or relics of saints. Finding out about the wine of the region helps one understand the local climate and geography. Arid and dry? Very wet all year? Mountainous or coastal? I find I can understand the saint and his daily hardships when I learn about where he/she lived. How about a Spanish saint, such St. Josemaria Escriva, who was born in Barbastro, Spain? He was born near the Somontano Region, which produces several varieties of wine. For more Spanish ideas see Spanish wine and map of regions. Cava, port, and sherry would also fit into the Spanish heritage. Frascati, a refreshing white wine, would be perfect for any pope's feast day, particularly those that fall during summertime. While on a trip to Rome, we had a day excursion nearby the pope's summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. We enjoyed with our dinner the local wine, Frascati, and found out that it is a favorite with Romans (including the Pope) during the summertime. St. Robert Bellarmine was from Montepulciano, which is a town in Florence, but also a type of wine grape is from that area.

3. Find the type of drink from time period of saint or an old winery that dates from around time of saint. Since the majority of saints on the calendar are mostly from Europe, the choices will generally be European wines. But Blessed Junipero Serra is an outside example. He founded many of the older vineyards during his mission work in California. According to the fun book The Bad Catholic's Guide to Wine, Whiskey, and Song: A Spirited Look at Catholic Life & Lore from the Apocalypse to Zinfandel by John Zmirak and Denise Matychowiak, Mission wines have been used in the United States since 1769. The priests needed wine to say Mass, so they planted their own vineyards. Angelica is the first variety produced. "Private companies raising the old Franciscan grapes include Robert Mondavi and Gallo. Angelica is often bought by churches for use as altar wine at Mass by priests..." (By the way, I highly recommend The Bad Catholic's Guide to Wine, Whiskey, and Song. Don't be put off by the title. The book is sometimes irreverent, but nothing sacrilegious or contrary to the faith. It's an A to Z approach to various beers, ales, wine, etc. with short lessons on the Catholic Church, the Catechism, history, and culture. It's delightfully written and has good recipes, too.) Loosely one could use American Mondavi or Gallo wines to cover feasts like the angels, Saint Anthony, Saint Francis, Saint Junipero Serra and any other saints used for Californian missions.
4. Find vineyards/wineries named after saints, feasts, religious orders, popes, maybe same country of origin. We've tried California's Franciscan for Franciscan saints, Italian Feudi di San Gregorio for our family's name saint, St. Gregory and other Italian saints. One special treat wine for us is Châteauneuf-du-Pape. According to Zmirak, "[t]his spicy, dense variety of wine is usually red, and typically excellent". The name means "the pope's new Chateau or Castle", with the papal keys usually found on the label. The vineyards were established during the time of the Avignon Papacy or Western Schism. So I would consider using this wine for a) French saints near this region, b) for saints like St. Catherine of Siena, who worked so tirelessly to bring the pope back to Rome, and also for c) Papal saints, just because the visual of the papal keys on the label is great for discussions.
5. Match the wine to the type of personality of the saint. For St. Jerome, St. Paul how about fiery, red, bold wines, like Zinfandel? For St. Therese the Little Flower seems fitting to have a dessert or sweet wine. St. Francis and St. John Bosco seem so fun and joyful that a bubbly or sparkling wine would imitate their personality. And for St. Augustine or St. Thomas Aquinas, it seems only a scholarly port would do.
6. Choose a seasonal saint wine. Consider cool whites for summer saints and reds to warm oneself during the winter months. Also consider Wassail or mulled wines for those cold times.
7. Have the liturgical colors reflected in the wine. For feasts of Virgins, Popes, serve white wines. For feasts of Martyrs, Apostles, Bishops and Cardinals, serve red. For the Solemnity of Pentecost, serve red wine. For the Solemnities of Easter and Christmas and Epiphany, serve white and maybe white sparkling wine, like Champagne or Cava. It does go against our family tradition to suggest whites for the high feast days, because our favorites are reds, and for big feasts and family events, red is the wine of choice. We just spend a little more for a fancier wine.

It looks overwhelming written out, but I'm really not suggesting anything out of the ordinary or difficult. It's the process and the enjoyment of wine in a social setting that's fun.

A toast to the love of our Mother Church and her saints! Pin It

Staples of Our Feastday Celebrations Part One: Bread

There is so much inspiration here at Catholic Cuisine! Mary's Bread - A Staple of Liturgical Year Celebrations and then Mary Ellen's Feeling Wine-y, a practical guide to experimenting and enjoying wines, got me all excited -- these ladies share my enthusiasm! I had sketched an outline for an article years ago on some how-to pointers celebrating with bread and wine for the Liturgical Year (on the back of two envelopes, no less -- my greatest brain storms are always sketched on the backs of envelopes). After being inspired by Mary and Mary Ellen, I thought this might be a good time to flesh it out!

While some of these ideas can be incorporated in the family, you might also say this series could be entitled "Feasting for Adults through the Liturgical Year."

Like Mary Machado mentioned, "Bread is such a significant image in our faith...and it is a staple of life." I find breaking bread (literally and figuratively) and sharing wine together is such a wonderful social experience. I enjoy baking bread, although I've had to shelve most of my interaction with wheat flour because of my older son's food allergy to wheat. There might be a chance he'll outgrow the allergy, but for now I enjoy talking recipes and eating other people's masterpieces.

Mary gave some excellent tips about incorporating bread into feast days. Since it is "the staple of life" it seems so natural to work bread into our celebrations around the year. I mentioned some ideas here on First Communion breads. Some further extensions of incorporating bread for feastdays:

Liturgical Feasting With Bread: 

• This is the most obvious: bake breads that are traditionally linked with a feast or saint, such as the German Christmas Christollen or Stollen which resembles the Christ Child in swaddling clothes. Or St. Catherine’s Wigs for St. Catherine of Alexandria’s feast on November 25.
• Don't be limited by yeast breads, but remember there are a vast array of recipes for sourdough breads, rolls, quick breads, muffins, gluten-free and wheat free baking, scones, (American) biscuits, etc. In our family dinners I mark the special feasts with some kind of bread, as I don't serve it every day.
• Use bread recipes from a geographic area, region, or culture. For example, for the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Italian bread would be appropriate, but you could also delve deeper and use a bread recipe from the Umbrian region or specifically a recipe from the city of Assisi. The same principle applied elsewhere, such as not confusing Spanish with Castilian saints (St. Ignatius of Loyola was Castilian). France is divided into various regions, each with unique flavors, such as bread from Provençal. Our Holy Father, Benedict XVI is from Germany, but he's specifically from Bavaria.
• Use regional ingredients (grains, fruits, etc.) to mark a feast. Is a saint from Scotland? Oat cakes or scones or bannocks would be a perfect touch. For example, serve the native corn in the style of cornbread on Saint Kateri Tekakwitha's feast on July 14. For St. Barnabas the Apostle (June 11), incorporate some olive bread, since one of his symbols is the olive branch. Or mix in some appropriate vegetables, fruits, and/or nuts into your usual bread dough to mark the feast.
• Use inspiration from other traditions and customs around the world. The food doesn't have to be applied to the original feast, like Symbolic Breads, which were originally from St. Joseph's feast day, but the shaping of breads can be applied to various feasts, including this upcoming Corpus Christi Sunday. Also look at historical recipes, like biblical, Ancient Mediterranean, medieval, etc. Try medieval baking for a saint or feast from the medieval era, or biblical breads, such as Ezekiel fasting bread for ember days and unleavened bread for some New Testament saints. And how about some Jewish kosher cooking for saints like Martha? A Jewish challah bread would be perfect for her day!
• Play with words! Sometimes recipes have unique or fun titles, or use proper names. If a bread has a name that fits with the saint of the day, use it! I keep thinking of the story of panettone, Tony's Bread by Tomie dePaola. Since it's named after Tony, it would be perfect to serve on St. Anthony Abbott's feast on January 17th, whose daily bread was brought to him by a raven. Most Italians don't bake this bread but buy it, so purchase an extra box at Christmas and save it for this feast.
• Be inspired by the shapes and colors of breads. A fabulous Easter bread is the Italian Colomba di Pasqua or Colomba Pasquale (Easter Dove). My husband and I have bought this for two Easters from our favorite local Italian restaurant. Although it's originally an Easter bread, the dove shape makes it perfect to serve Columba Pasquale for Pentecost or Confirmation celebrations.
• And the same can be applied to Greek Trinity bread -- an Easter bread, but triangular in shape would make it perfect for the Feast of the Blessed Trinity (yesterday's feast). Cloverleaf and Shamrock Rolls can be used for the feast of St. Patrick and the feast of the Blessed Trinity.
• Have a blessing of bread when everyone is gathered before eating. The older form of the Roman Ritual has a delightful collection of blessings of foods, particularly breads.

• Lord Jesus Christ, You live and are King forever. Bread of angels, Bread of everlasting life, be so kind as to bless this bread as You blessed the five loaves in the desert, that all who taste of it may through it receive health of body and soul. R. Amen.

This page has a compilation of the Blessings of Food. Note there are three specifically for bread!

Cookbook Recommendations: The following books are my favorite bread cookbooks, great for inspiration on bread baking throughout the year:

The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking by Brother Rick Curry. For me there are two types of cookbooks, one is wonderful reading AND good recipes, and the other a great compilation of recipes. This falls into the former. Brother Rick shares the spiritual side of baking bread. He follows St. Ignatius' rule to make a daily Examen of Conscience, and does it while he bakes bread. "Radical or not, I consider it to be one of the secrets of Jesuit breadmaking." This is a delightful cookbook, with such personal anecdotes and practical baking advice. He uses recipes from Jesuits from all over the world, with breads for all the seasons: Advent, Lent, Christmas, Easter, and also daily breads, rolls, muffins and corn breads.

The Festive Bread Book by Kathy Cutler. This is an out-of-print cookbook, but very easy to find used copies. It has the most delightful collection of festive breads for all sorts of days, both secular holidays (Lincoln and Washington's birthdays, Election Day, for examples) and some religious feast days, including ones like St. Barbara (December 4), St. Lucia, and St. Joseph. Not every recipe is illustrated, but the book does include several mouth-watering photographs.

Celebration Breads: Recipes, Tales, and Traditions by Betsy Oppenneer is an excellent, step-by-step cookbook for baking bread. Each recipe has alternative directions for mixing by hand, by mixer and by food processor. The book is organized by country and then breads for various celebrations of that culture, with descriptions and tales for each. It's a delightful book, with hand drawn illustrations throughout. Check out a preview at Google Books.

Stayed tuned for Staples of Our Feastday Celebrations Part Two: Wine. Pin It